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Trophic State of the Loxahatchee River Estuary

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Trophic State of the Loxahatchee River Estuary Trophic State of the Loxahatchee River Estuary Richard C. Dent Loxahatchee River District January 2001 Introduction The estuarine waters inside the Jupiter Inlet have, for centuries, provided an extremely productive and aesthetically desirable aquatic environment. The diverse array of fish life, supported by seagrass and mangrove habitats and complemented by vast oyster and other shellfish populations, sustained Native American societies and the European colonization that followed. Although several physical changes have been made to the waterway in the past half century, including the relocation and permanent maintenance of an open inlet, the channelization of the Lake Worth and Jupiter Sound creeks into the Intercoastal Waterway (ICWW), the removal of historic oyster bars and the drainage of the uplands, the inland waters remain of high quality and a signature feature of the area. Maintaining a quality environment in light of the pressures of human development has been more successful in the Loxahatchee River/Jupiter Inlet area than in certain other coastal areas. Many estuaries in Florida and elsewhere have displayed significant changes resultant from the increased presence of man. A major change observed in other estuaries has been the enrichment of waters by nutrients, a process termed eutrophication. In such cases, discharges of stormwater and wastewater from uplands developed for urban and agricultural uses, combined with physical alterations to the waterways, have served to pollute historically good water quality and degrade the biological productivity of the estuary. One purpose of this paper is to evaluate the degree to which the waters inland of the Jupiter Inlet have undergone a change in enrichment or trophic state. A water body can be classified as one of three general trophic states, oligotrophic, meaning low nutrient levels and high clarity, or mesotrohic, a moderate elevation in nutrient concentrations resulting in lower clarity and a reduction in desirable biological habitats or the most enriched state, eutrophic, which can result in significant loss of environmental qualities. Under natural, undisturbed conditions, most estuaries, including the Loxahatchee, would exist in the pristine or oligotrophic state, exhibiting low nutrients, high clarity and minimal growth of algae. With the introduction of pollutants, predominantly nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, the condition of the estuary would degrade to a mesotrophic or eutrophic condition. Water clarity would diminish and the critical habitats supporting the productive estuary, like the seagrass beds and oyster communities, would decline. In order to evaluate the trophic condition of a study area consisting of the Loxahatchee Estuary and the associated reaches of the ICWW extending north and south of the Inlet, this paper employs water quality data compiled over the past thirty years and applies that information to a composite measurement. The study area is shown on Figure #1 and encompasses the Jupiter Inlet, approximate five-mile reaches of the ICWW north and south of the inlet, the major embayment of the Loxahatchee Estuary and the mouths of each of the three main branches of the Loxahatchee River. Water quality data, compiled from twelve long-term monitoring stations over time periods ranging from three decades to the past seven years, are examined. The five stations located in the inlet and along the ICWW have consistently shown salinity levels above 25 ppt. as an annual average. The other seven stations exhibit annual mean salinity ranges of 11 ppt. to 25 ppt. Given the different salinity conditions, two subgroups, ‘marine’ and ‘estuarine’, were created and analyzed separately for much of the evaluation. The Trophic State Index The Florida Trophic State Index (TSI) is a composite measurement used in evaluating the level of enrichment to the waters of the study area. The TSI was developed in the 1980’s by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) through contractual arrangement with the University of Florida and is intended to provide a relative expression of the trophic state or level of enrichment of lakes and estuaries in the State. The index provides an effective method of classifying trophic status (oligotrophic, mesotrophic or eutrophic) in lakes and estuaries based on nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, the concentration of chlorophyll and the water clarity as measured by secchi disc depth. Originally established for Florida lakes, the index was modified to accommodate estuaries using these four components and establishing a scale of zero to 100. The grading scale applied to Florida’s estuaries established overall TSI values as follows. Value of less than 50= Condition rated ‘good’ or oligotrophic (not enriched) Value of 50 to less than 60 = Condition rated ‘fair’ or mesotrophic (some enrichment) Value of 60 or above= Condition rated ‘poor’ or eutrophic (enriched) The calculation of the TSI requires water quality data for total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chlorophyll ‘a’ and secchi disc depth. The Loxahatchee River District and others have compiled nitrogen and phosphorus data for thirty years. While some secchi disc measurements were recorded in the 1980’s, it wasn’t until the early 1990’s that consistent data were compiled. Chlorophyll ‘a’ monitoring did not become standard in the study area until 1996. The majority of the evaluations presented in this report concentrate on the seven-year period of record from 1994 through 2000. For long-term comparative purposes, certain evaluations incorporate a full thirty-year period of record and employ only those parameters for which information was available. While reducing the level of accuracy, this process is acceptable under the TSI protocol. It should also be noted that only data secured under acceptable monitoring and analytical standards of the federal Environmental Protection Agency were used in the evaluations. Figure #1 Area of Study Figure #2 Mean Values for Key Parameters and TSI Index Monitoring Station T.S.I. Component Parameter TSI Index No. Location Secchi Chl a Total N Total P # Value 10 In le t 1.5 2.4 1.03 0.027 40 20 ICWW @ 707 bridge 2.4 2.0 0.99 0.025 34 25 IC W W @ M M 1.7 3.6 1.05 0.028 41 30 ICWW @ 706 bridge 1.6 4.8 1.20 0.038 45 35 IC W W @ D o n a ld R o s s 1.8 4.8 1.22 0.035 43 40 Central Bay 1.5 2.7 1.11 0.030 41 51 Lower North Prong 1.4 4.0 1.17 0.036 45 55 Upper North Prong 0.8 5.3 1.36 0.045 53 60 NW Fork - Mouth 1.4 4.1 1.38 0.046 46 62 NW Fork - Island Way 1.4 4.1 1.45 0.058 49 71 Jones Creek 1.1 7.2 1.43 0.060 54 72 SW Fork - Lox Riv Rd 1.2 7.6 1.58 0.054 53 Figure #2 presents the mean results, by monitoring station, for each of the parameters used in the TSI for the 1994-2000 time frame. The following paragraphs present a brief synopsis of each parameter and the findings. The total nitrogen concentrations for 1994-2000 are shown on Figure #3. Figure #3 Total Nitrogen The results of the five ‘marine’ stations and the seven ‘estuarine’ Concentrations stations are shown separately. As is 2 observed, the mean annual total Marine 1.8 l / Estuarine nitrogen concentrations for the 1.6 g m 1.4 ‘marine’ stations ranges from n i 1.2 approximately 0.8 to 1.4 mg/l. The n 1 o i annual mean for the ‘estuarine’ t 0.8 a r t 0.6 stations shows a higher range of 1.0 n e 0.4 c to 1.8 mg/l. The trend over the n 0.2 o seven-year period indicates a short- C 0 term improvement for each set of 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 stations. It should be noted, Year however, that total nitrogen in the decade of the 1970’s was significantly lower, averaging 0.6 and 0.7 mg/l for the ‘marine’ and ‘estuarine’ stations, respectively. By way of comparison, the statewide averages for total nitrogen in estuarine waters is 1.2 mg/l and therefore, the concentration of total nitrogen in the waters inland of the Jupiter Inlet is comparable to or slightly higher than the norm when considering the past seven years. The mean annual total phosphorus concentrations are shown on Figure #4. As with total nitrogen, the apparent short-term trend is toward lower concentrations or improvement. From 1994 through 2000, the ‘marine’ stations exhibited annual Figure #4 Total Phosphorus average concentrations ranging from less than 20 to 55 ppb. Concentrations Annual average total phosphorus concentrations for the ‘estuarine’ 80 stations ranged higher at 31 to 75 Marine 70 ppb. These recent levels are Estuarine 60 similar to concentrations observed 50 prior to the 1990 time period. 40 Unlike total nitrogen, the total 30 phosphorus concentrations 20 recorded in the surface waters of 10 the study area are lower than the 0 Concentration in ug/l in Concentration statewide average which is 80 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 ppb for the 1990 to 1998 time year period. Secchi disc depth is a water quality measurement evaluating clarity. In a generic sense, it Figure #5 can be considered to combine light restricting constituents Mean Secchi Disc Depth such as total suspended solids, Station number turbidity and color. Figure #5 0 shows the mean secchi disc -0.5 s 10 20 25 30 35 40 51 55 60 62 71 72 73 r -1 depth at each station along with e t e -1.5 maximum secchi disc depths m -2 n i and bottom depth at each h -2.5 t monitoring site.
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